Greenbelt resident Steven Bernheisel usually bikes to the Metro, and then takes the train to work in Arlington, Va. But Friday, May 17, he joined about 100 people who passed through Greenbelt for its Bike to Work Day pit stop.
Organized by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), Bike to Work Day is designed to bring familiarity with cycling to the community and give people a chance to see whether they might like biking to work. In the region, more than 13,000 people participated in the event, according to WABA, and there were more than 100 pit stops available – places where bikers could meet, grab goodies and mingle.
Greenbelt’s pit stop, held in the parking lot in front of the Greenbelt Aquatic & Fitness Center, ran from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and had a variety of activities for people who came by, including a “stretching with your bike” class, led by Amy Rappole, a recreation health instructor.
Bernheisel, who’s been in Greenbelt for 37 years, decided to continue his ride, biking all the way to the Shirlington school where he works, figuring that was as good a time as any to make the full trek. “Normally, I bike on the weekends,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll go 20 miles.”
For Bernheisel, the pit stop was a chance to grab some swag and hang with fellow cyclists before starting his journey – on a route he had written out on a cheat sheet to avoid making a costly wrong turn. His goals of fellowship and inspiration align with the mission of the day, said Kalli Krumpos, senior organizing manager at WABA, who was staffing a table to greet those who rode up to the Greenbelt stop.
“It’s good for awareness building,” she said. “We are trying to make biking accessible to the full spectrum – from kids to adults. We want people to be excited and curious.”
A Little Help
One exciting thing about the Greenbelt pit stop was that two convoys of multiple bikers left from the location. One led cyclists into D.C. as a group, while the other went to Goddard Space Flight Center. Di Quynn Reno, Community Center supervisor who helped put together the pit stop event, said the convoys offer guidance to those who haven’t done this before.
“They can go with a very experienced rider,” she said. “And get confidence that they can do it in the future.”
Quynn Reno added that the pit stop activities are completely paid for by sponsors, not the city. Some of the sponsors included: Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket, McCarl Dental Group, Proteus Bicycles, Greenbelt Sunoco, Greenbelt Cinema, Jersey Mike’s Subs, CCI Health Services and Cirkul.
The Greenbelt pit stop brought a variety of cyclists also. A Laurel man, who identified himself only as Frank M., said Greenbelt was the closest pit stop to his home because there weren’t any in his city. He drove to Lake Artemesia and biked over so he could ride with the convoy that was heading into D.C.
Ivan Csiszar stopped in at the pit stop around 6:40 a.m. to grab his swag and watch the festivities before heading off to work. Csisizar normally bikes the six miles to work on the days he goes in, because he thinks it’s good exercise for his body and good for the environment. He was glad the event was there to help others, and advised those thinking of taking up biking to work to “check your route, make sure it’s safe and make sure you understand it.”
While most cyclists rode in completely on pedal power, Heather Mortimer rolled in on her e-bike. “I mostly come down because of the people I know,” she said, adding she came in part to support biking to work, but also to socialize with the biking community. It was actually one of her teleworking days, so she planned to bike back home to work.